


Courtship

by SegaBarrett



Category: The Godfather (1972 1974 1990)
Genre: Extra Treat, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29157984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SegaBarrett/pseuds/SegaBarrett
Summary: Apollonia notices Michael, too.
Relationships: Apollonia Vitelli Corleone/Michael Corleone
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11
Collections: Chocolate Box - Round 6





	Courtship

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CeruleanTactician](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeruleanTactician/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I don't own The Godfather, and I make no money from this.

There was a recurring dream that Apollonia Vitelli would have, ever since she had been a little girl.

In the dream she had been walking alongside the mountain, looking into the sun. She would look down and realize that she was barefoot, and that somehow she had walked a very long way from her home. However, she was not afraid.

In the dream, she was never afraid.

She was also not alone – she would look up into the sun and realize there was some kind of guiding look gazing down upon her. When she was very young, she recognized in the eyes – somehow, the sun always had eyes – her father, but as she grew older the vision began to shift.

She began to see the eyes of someone else, someone who she couldn’t name and someone she couldn’t even conjure up – there weren’t many men in these hills, after all.

The men who had lived here once were mostly dead. Maybe, Apollonia wondered, it was some kind of ghost visiting in her dreams, whispering to her to try to lure her away and make her his spirit bride.

She wouldn’t ever tell the other girls that, though. They were call her foolish and say that she had her head in the clouds.

And then she had looked over the mountain, and she had seen him. More importantly, he had seen her. Her heart had jumped a little, both in joy and fear all at once. Because she had never expected a man to come and (would he take her away?)… the reality of it suddenly felt very real, much closer than the fantasy had ever made it seem.

Her father had spoken with her, told her the American man wished to get to know her, to court her, perhaps to marry her, and she hadn’t known what to say. At least not at first.

She came up with ways to convince Michael Corleone, which she learned was the American’s name, to have to catch her as they walked along the road. After all, it was hard to find intimacy when she was always surrounded by her entire family. And it was hard to figure out exactly what she was supposed to do when it felt as if someone was always crowding in, an aunt here and a female friend there, stepping between them to offer words of what Apollonia was sure they felt was wisdom.

But she would keep a cool head. She would pull her brush through her hair, look into her mirror and picture Michael-the-American running his fingers over her shoulders and telling her that she was beautiful. 

One of the girls had told her that Michael had said Apollonia was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.

She wondered what it was – was it her eyes that he liked, or maybe her hair? If she lost one piece, would the whole fall apart? 

Apollonia did not doubt Michael’s taste, however, because he was beautiful too. 

***

On Apollonia’s wedding night, she stayed awake, watching as Michael slept. She could see them both in the mirror, now, and she trailed her fingers over his face and shoulders and back. 

She wondered what they would look like when they were old and gray, still sitting like this, looking into the mirror and listening as their grandchildren rustled in the adjoining bedrooms. 

They would still be beautiful, somehow. Because everything was.


End file.
